worship Archives - Page 7 of 13 - Plain Bible Teaching

Andy Sochor June 11, 2014

Why Do We Meet on Sunday Evening?

I recently read an article about the declining number of churches having a second worship service on Sunday evening (Whatever Happened to Sunday Evening Services?). The article mentioned several possible reasons for the decline – too demanding for busy families, too difficult for “pastors” to prepare two sermons each week, lack of attendance/interest by the members, etc.

Though the article was written from a denominational perspective, the discussion of this trend is also helpful for us in the Lord’s church. Often, God’s people follow the trends of the religious world around them. Even if we ignore current trends of eliminating the Sunday evening service, it is generally true that attendance is lower on Sunday evening than on Sunday morning in the majority of local churches. The reasons why Sunday evening services are in decline among the denominational world are often the same reasons why churches quit meeting on Sunday evening or why Christians simply choose not to attend the evening service. So in this article, I want to briefly discuss seven reasons why we assemble on Sunday evenings.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: assembly, church, encouragement, Lord's Supper, study, worship

Andy Sochor September 18, 2013

Not Getting Anything Out of the Assembly

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’” (Psalm 122:1).

David expressed the attitude that we must have when it comes to assembling to worship the Lord – gladness. The assembly of the saints ought to be something to which we look forward.

Unfortunately, many do not look forward to this time. But rather than acknowledging their own poor attitude and making efforts to change their mindset, they often attempt to shift the blame to others. They will say, “I’m not getting anything out of the assembly!” In their minds, this provides justification for them to complain, become sporadic in their attendance, or quit assembling altogether.

In this article, we will focus on the attitude of one who claims to be getting nothing out of the assembly of the church. It is a dangerous attitude and we must guard ourselves against it.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: assembly, encouragement, giving, Lord's Supper, prayer, preaching, singing, worship

Andy Sochor June 20, 2013

The Mission of the Church

There are many different churches all over the world. Why do these churches exist? What is their mission? That answer will vary from church to church as men fashion their churches according to their own desires. We will consider a few possible answers later in this article.

But what is the mission of the church of our Lord? The answer to this question will not be found in human opinion or tradition, but in the word of God that has been revealed to us in the Scriptures. So let us see what the Scriptures say about the mission of the church.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: authority, benevolence, church, edification, evangelism, preaching, social gospel, worship

Andy Sochor February 14, 2013

“They Thought More of Me Than of My Lord”

The following is a quote from J.D. Tant (1861-1941) in which he described an experience he had with some brethren who differed with him on the issue of instrumental music in worship. Tant opposed instrumental music. The brethren he mentioned here accepted it. Yet for Tant’s sake, they did not use it while he was with them.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: Restoration History Tagged With: authority, instrumental music, J.D. Tant, worship

Andy Sochor November 20, 2012

“He Was Eaten by Worms and Died” (11/20)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Acts 11-12.

The death of Herod provides a few lessons for us. One lesson is that we must be careful of the type of praise from men that we are willing to accept.

“On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. The people kept crying out, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’ And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died” (Acts 12:21-23).

As a ruler of the people, many looked up to Herod and depended upon him. Some praised him as if he were a god. When this happened, he was struck by the angel and died a slow, agonizing death. However, it is important to note that Herod was not killed because the people wrongly praised him as a god. Notice a couple of examples of others who were not killed, even though they received worship that should have been exclusively for God.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: SERIES: Daily Notes & Observations Tagged With: God, humility, worship

Andy Sochor November 6, 2012

“Not One Stone Will Be Left Upon Another” (11/6)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Mark 13.

“As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down’” (Mark 13:1-2).

It is common for man to be impressed with the beauty and greatness of physical, man-made structures. This was the reason for this disciple’s remark on this occasion. As they left the temple, the disciple noted the impressive buildings that surrounded them. There was nothing necessarily wrong with this. But Jesus wanted to be sure that His disciples kept the proper perspective about such things.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: SERIES: Daily Notes & Observations Tagged With: kingdom, law, worship

Andy Sochor October 23, 2012